Survival
by dondena
Summary: Leo and Raph have been fighting for quite some time. When is it going to end? Then something else happens that complicates things. 2k3 verse.
1. Chapter 1

The old turtle luck running true to form.

Leonardo could tell by the expression on Raphael's face that he was thinking exactly that as the group of defeated ninjas walked back home through the sewers. Not a word was spoken between the brothers. They marched side by side in a silence that was broken only by the steady drip of water in the underground tunnels.

As if dealing with the Purple Dragons wasn't enough, the Mob had also decided that tonight would be a good night to cause some trouble. The turtles had started out stalking a group of Purple Dragons, who had been raiding a jewelry store and finished breaking up one of the Mob's underhanded business deals downtown.

Both times Leo had devised a perfect plan and both times, Raph had defied him. As always, the red-banded turtle had decided to do things his way and jumped into the fray of criminals with both feet. Without thinking, Leo had yelled at his brother to wait, instantly blowing their cover, and then jumped down after him. Don and Mikey had followed to lend a hand and try to prevent their older brothers from getting hurt.

No one had, thank goodness. They all escaped relatively unscathed. A few new purpling bruises dotted their green-hued skin. The four had done their best to thwart the bad guys' evil plans. Although their efforts had stopped the Dragons and the Mob from successfully completing their illegal activities, they had ended up getting their shells handed to them. Once sirens began to wail the warning of approaching police, the villains and vigilantes had scattered.

Out of sight high up on the rooftops, Leonardo had confronted his temperamental sibling. Another perfect plan had gone down in flames simply because of Raphael's failure to listen. Of course, Raphael didn't like to be told that he was the reason they had lost their battles. Mid-lecture, he had taken a swing at Leonardo and just like that, another fight between them had ensued. They tussled, kicking up the dirt that had settled over the tar-covered roof. For several minutes as Donatello and Michelangelo watched, neither one willing to intervene for fear of getting involved.

Leo couldn't say for sure what ended the fight. It stopped abruptly when Raph had shoved him away. Completely winded, the blue and red turtles had stood glaring at each other while they tried to regain their breathing. To Leo's great surprise, Raph had obeyed the order to return to the lair. Now, the only thing Leo had to look forward to was facing the wrath of his father, Master Splinter, for what had happened tonight.

As they trudged home, Leo used the time to reflect on Raph's attitude. Lately, Raph's ideas had been getting out of hand. His actions were reckless and his temper more hair-triggered than ever. Fights between them were occurring with increasing frequency and escalating harm. Even Don and Mike could see the changes in Raph. They wisely stayed out of the fights, only stepping in if absolutely necessary.

When the four brothers stumbled into the lair, Master Splinter was waiting for them. It didn't matter that he was a brave and battle-trained ninja: whenever Leo saw his father angry, he felt a tremor of fear race down his spine. His heart began to hammer as Splinter beckoned him forward, no doubt to demand an explanation for their defeated state. Swallowing his nerves, Leo followed Splinter into his private room.

Already, Leo felt like everything was his fault. He couldn't stop Raph from doing what he did. No one could. it seemed. Yet, his father was making sure that he felt the weight of that responsibility.

"What happened?" Master Splinter had asked simply, but with harshness in his voice.

Leo stumbled through a hasty explanation of the night's events.

"Master, I tried everything I could, but Raph wouldn't listen to me." Leo finished with a lame excuse.

"You must learn to stand up to him and get him to listen," Splinter scolded, his nose twitching with anger. "That is one of your duties as a leader."

"I do try, but he just doesn't want to listen. He wants to do things his own way."

Splinter wasn't the least bit satisfied with that response. He spent the next several minutes reprimanding Leo then let him go with the order that he send Raph in. Leo left Splinter's room feeling very down on himself that he couldn't have been a better leader tonight.

He immediately sought out Raph in the dojo. The big turtle was releasing his anger on the battered punching bag. His ferocious punches caused some of the sand that filled the bag to leak out and fall to the floor. Leo didn't get too close, as he didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of Raph's punches.

"Raph," Leo spoke loudly enough so his brother would hear him.

"What, Fearless?!" Raph growled loudly without slowing his motions.

"Master Splinter wants to talk to you."

"Great! Just great. First it's you, and now you have to drag Master Splinter into this!" Raph snapped, increasing the speed of his punches.

"These fights have been getting us nowhere, Raph. You have to get your temper under control on our patrols. It could get us all into trouble some day." Leo stated in his defense.

"I could do just fine without you screwing me up! You don't have to tell me what to do! I'm not a kid anymore!"

"With this behavior, you sure do act like one!"

"Just leave me alone!"

Raph finally stopped hitting the punching bag and turned to go talk to Splinter. He made sure to hit Leo in the left shoulder as he passed by. Turning, Leo glared at the back of his brother's scarred shell.

How was this ever going to be resolved?

…

Across town, new enemies had assembled. They had been hired by Hun himself, who was still quite angry that the turtles had fouled his last heist. He had lost many valuable goods because of it. Desperate, he had sought the new assassins with the expectation that they would take down the turtles or at the very least, one of the freaks to send the others a message.

These new assassins were an army of big, muscle-bound men assembled as a private organization. They came well-equipped with the various weapons of both hunters and ninjas - knives, throwing stars, bows and arrows, chains, and the like. They were warriors and killers, that much was obvious.

Hun showed them pictures of their new prey. The photos were mostly blurred or grainy. It was incredibly difficult to get a clear shot of mutant turtles when they were trained ninjas. Still, the assassins were able to get a general idea of what the four teenagers looked like. While the assassins studied the photos, Hun supplied them with more details about the turtles – the weapons, the colors of their masks, and their names. The Purple Dragon leader then instructed his new hires on which turtles were of higher importance.

"The blue-masked one, Leonardo, is the leader," Hun explained. "You take him down and the rest will fall much more easily. Then there's the red-masked one, Raphael. He can be a rebel. Him and Leonardo are the toughest of the bunch."

"Then we'll take care of them," the leader of the assassins assured Hun.

Though he didn't express it, Hun hoped these guys could follow through on their promise. Everyone else who had tried to take out the turtles had always been beaten, even his old ex-boss, the Shredder. He would pay these assassins very well if they fulfilled their end of the bargain.

…..

Not for the first time, Leo had tried to get along with Raph, to make him understand that telling him what to do was for his own good. Yet, Raph was still refusing to listen. He was angrier than ever since Splinter had punished him by ordering him to stay below ground for a week, cleaning the lair, and spending extra time meditating - all things that Raph hated. Leo did not have to suffer the same punishment as his brother, but he was subject to Splinter's disappointment for what was happening. That, to Leo, was way worse than having to clean the bathroom.

Don and Mikey hated seeing their two oldest brothers at odds with each other. Donny wished there was something he could do to make the fighting stop. Perhaps he could try talking to his brothers later on when they were calmer.

Mikey knew that now was not a good time to agitate Raph unless he wanted a good pounding and also knew that Leo wasn't in the mood for games either. In the meantime, he and Don continued to go about their day as they usually did. Don spent countless hours working in his lab and Mikey played his video games when he wasn't reading his comics.

All of a sudden, there was a yell from the dojo accompanied by what sounded suspiciously like someone had hit something. It brought Don, Mike, and Splinter running to the dojo.

The three arrived to find Leo trying to get up off the floor. A little blood dripped from his mouth and there was a mark on his face that looked like he had been punched. Raph was standing a few feet away, panting heavily. His face was twisted in an angry glare.

"What happened in here?" Splinter demanded.

"I was tryin' to blow off my steam, but Fearless here thinks he's just going to show me up in a fight. I don't think so." Raph snarled.

"I wasn't trying to egg you on, Raph. I was just trying to get you to tell me what is going on with you lately," Leo replied as he held a hand to the right side of his face.

"I just want to be left alone! You're my problem right now! I don't want you anywhere near me!"

"Raphael, that is enough!" Splinter yelled.

"Leo, let me take a look at that injury," Don spoke up.

"I'm fine, Don. It's nothing," Leo insisted angrily. He turned and began to exit the dojo, but called a warning back over his shoulder. "This isn't over, Raph."

"Raphael! There was no need to do that to Leonardo." Splinter said.

"I just need time for myself. I don't need him checking on me every 5 minutes," Raph protested. "He made me do it just to get him off my shell."

Don and Mikey were at a loss for words. Now the fighting was turning physical. But their father then said, "It is another 5 days doing all the chores around here."

"Agh!" Raph groaned.

"Do you want to make it another ten?"

"No." The red-banded turtle held up his hands in surrender.

Irate, Raph went back to blowing off his steam on the punching bag. Don, Mike, and Splinter left the dojo. While the latter two went back to what they were doing before, Don was determined to check on Leo to make sure he was really okay. But just then he heard the door to the lair open and close. Leo had gone out. Sighing, Don made it his top priority to see Leo as soon as he came home.

**Also worked on with MissMoMo1990. **


	2. Chapter 2

Leo had left the lair hoping to get some air and clear his head a bit. Normally, he held himself together pretty well when he was around his family, but when he was alone, he could let his emotions out. He could still feel the pain from the bruise on his cheek and his split lip. Aside from that, there were also the painful words that Raph had said to him. It was like Raph really didn't want him around. Of all his siblings, why did Raph have to be the most difficult?

He ran and jumped over many rooftops trying to get those thoughts out of his head. When he finally came to a stop after running for over two miles without stopping, he was breathless. He had arrived in Midtown.

Leo stood on a rooftop and looked over the lighted city. Below, the traffic was busy. Humans were out and about, some probably going home for the night. As he watched, the thoughts inside his head continued to bother him and he couldn't stop the tears from falling. The fighting had been going on for more than a few weeks now. When would this end? Leo just wanted what was best for his brother and the rest of his family too.

All of a sudden, Leo had a sense that he was being watched. He quickly wiped his eyes and turned around. There was no one out in the open, but he couldn't shake the feeling that somebody was there. The Foot, he assumed, would be the ones most likely pursuing him. He had been too busy thinking about his own emotional mess to notice before now. It wasn't something that happened too often to him, but he would make sure that no one was going to mess with him.

On full alert, Leo unsheathed his katanas. "Whoever you are, I know you're there. Come out."

All at once, twenty huge, muscle-bound men came out of hiding. Every single one of them was laughing, their faces hidden by dark masks.

Leo cringed inwardly. He had never seen these guys before, but they were all nearly the size of Hun. Right away, he knew that he would have to use every bit of athleticism he was gifted with to overcome these monsters. Besides their size, the number of them concerned him. If he didn't act carefully, they could easily overwhelm and capture him.

"So you are the famous leader of the ninja turtles we have heard so much about," a man up front declared.

Leo kept his swords at the ready. "Who wants to know?"

"Our leader."

Each of the men pulled a weapon then. Some held swords, a few had guns, and others heavy hammers. These were weapons that Leo had seen the Foot Clan wield. He figured it was going to be like fighting them.

"And just who are you?" Leo demanded.

"We are known as the Giant Assassin Gang. You are on the top of our hit list, Turtle. You and your entire family!"

"You stay away from my family!" Leo snarled and charged the giant-like humans.

His swords clanged against another pair of blades. It became a constant sound as he battled his way around the group of assassins. The men pushed their strength into their weapons when they met the turtle, but Leo's ninja skills and cunning were enough to keep him one step ahead of his opponents.

He kicked a few of the men in their heads and knocked their weapons away with careful precision. Just when Leo thought he was going to get lucky and escape, a hammer came out of nowhere and hit him directly in the chest.

"OH!" Leo grunted out.

He rolled head over heels until his shell hit a wall at the edge of the building he was on. The impact was forceful enough that he left a big dent. In the process, Leo had lost his swords. He wasn't unconscious, but the blow to his chest had knocked the wind from his lungs. Panting heavily, he sat up slowly to find some of the men gathered before him. They didn't seem to be in much of hurry to approach him. Leo frowned in confusion. What could they be waiting for?

Unwilling to surrender, the turtle got to his feet. He was a little wobbly from the hit he had taken, but he managed to stay upright. As he tried to control his breathing, he glanced around for his katanas. To his dismay, he couldn't spot them.

"Looking for the swords? They went over the side when you hit the wall," one of the masked men said.

Leo cursed his misfortune. His mind worked furiously as he tried to come up with a plan to get out of there. The men moved in a little closer.

"Now, let's see how well you do without your precious swords, Turtle," another man challenged.

"While you guys remain armed?" Leo questioned, hoping to stall for time. His hands balled into fists. "This isn't a fair fight."

"Fairness is for the weak," came the response.

Without warning, the giant men all tried to attack Leo again with their weapons. Leo dodged them, dealing out kicks and punches to anyone who came within range. He did all he could to defend himself, but then one of the men hit the sore spot on his face. The flash of fresh pain was enough to distract him so that he didn't see the next blow coming. He was struck on the back of the head, earning a grunt from him as he dropped onto his stomach.

Fighting unconsciousness, Leo tried to get up despite the hit to his head. Then he was kicked in the stomach and Leo cried out. He was on his knees, hunched over, struggling to breathe. A kick to his ribs was enough to make him lose balance. He felt a heavy weight settle on his shell as he was held down.

"Let me go!" He cried out.

Leo's arms were pulled out straight in front of him. He tried to yank free of the hands that held his, but to no avail. These strange men were too powerful.

"I want my contribution," a man from the back of the group said.

"And what will yours be?"

"Keep his hands down on the floor."

Leo began to panic and tried once more to break away. The crowd parted and the man who had spoken up walked up to the trapped ninja. Leo's eyes strained to look up at the man. Helpless, he could do nothing as a booted foot stepped onto his hands. A harsh cry of pain escaped him.

"That's for punching me in the face!"

Leo grit his teeth as the pressure on his hands increased. The bones felt like they were buckling from the heavy weight. He'd be lucky if his hands didn't break completely. He wanted to call his family. This was a losing battle for him. There was no point in denying that anymore.

The man stayed on the turtle's hands for another agonizing minute. Leo cried again as the foot was removed. Despite the pain, he was finally able to wiggle his left hand out of its hold. He reached for his phone only for it to be snatched away before he could touch it.

"NO!" Leo cried out.

"No, no, no, Turtle," the foot-stepper chastised. "We're not done having fun with you yet."

"If you're going to kill me, then just get it over with!" Leo growled at him.

"But we're just getting started!"

Leo's left hand was seized and pulled back down. A different man came forward and slashed his arm as punishment for trying to reach his phone. The knife was sharp and made a deep, long cut across his bicep. Instantly, blood began to flow and drip from the incision.

"And here's my contribution," a hammer-wielding assassin announced as he stepped forward.

Leo saw the weapon intended for him and instinctively began to struggle. He didn't want to be hit again. One of the men gripped Leo's injured arm and roughly twisted it behind his shell. The pain in his limb was enough to render him motionless. By then, the man with the hammer was hovering above him. Leo tensed and grimaced as the hammer came crashing down onto the lower part of his right leg. There was no doubt this time: the bones shattered. Mouth opening wide, Leo let out a terrible scream.

"There, that will keep him from running away."

"Good work."

Leo's jaw was clenched and tears of agony leaked from his closed eyes. His chest was heaving as he tried to ignore the pulsating pain in his limb. As he struggled to understand how he could have possibly gotten into this nightmare, he was rolled onto his right side and someone straddled his thighs.

"Agh!" Leo groaned as the weight settled on him.

He made a weak attempt to move, but it went unnoticed by his captors. The leader wished desperately that this torment would end. He wanted to go home, but with a damaged leg he knew there was no way he could manage that by himself.

Again, his arms were restrained, awkwardly pulled above his head so that he could hardly turn his neck to see what they would do to him next. A hand pressed against the flesh between his carapace and plastron.

"What are you… doing now?" Leo questioned warily.

"Locating something before proceeding with more."

Leo flinched as the hand pressed harder, probing deep into his side.

"OW! That's enough!" He cried out.

"Have you found it?"

"I felt the lower rib at the bottom and went under. Yes, I found it."

"Here, give me the knife."

Leo's feeble escape attempt resumed. "NO! Don't do this!"

The grip on his arms tightened and the weight on his top leg got heavier.

"Don't… do it!" Leo had a desperate look in his eyes. His breathing was heavy and his heartbeat was pounding in his ears.

The behemoths were clearly enjoying every moment of his torment. Leo's pride dictated that he should not resort to begging, but this was going too far! It needed to stop.

"Let me go!"

They ignored him as a knife was passed to the man sitting on his legs. Before Leo could object further, the point of sharp, cold blade pierced his flesh just below his bottom rib. Another scream ripped from Leo's mouth. He felt the knife drawn in a straight line across his tender flesh, down the entire length of his midsection, and even slicing through his belt. Blood began pooling at the surface of the wound that stung worse with each passing second.

"Now onto the next big part."

"What… do you want… with me…?" Leo gasped out.

"Give me the arrow," he heard.

'_NO!' _Leo thought to himself and then cried it out loud. "NO!"

Leo thought he had never been more desperate to get away from an enemy before. Perhaps that night he had been up against The Foot alone so long ago, but he was supposed to be stronger now than he was back then. He struggled some more and was rewarded with a painful twist of his wrists.

"Agh!" Leo cried out.

"Here."

"Lace it with the stuff."

Leo barely suppressed a whimper. He couldn't see behind himself where all the activity was occurring, though he was certain he heard some liquid sloshing about.

"It's ready."

"Now, here is the most fun part, Turtle."

From the corner of his eye, Leo saw that the man on his legs had an arrow in his left hand. He knew that that arrow could kill him if it hit the right spot. As the thought crossed his mind, the man plunged the arrow into the open wound that the knife had left in the turtle's side.

Leo's cry of pain this time carried across several rooftops. The arrow had hit something deep within his body cavity. Leo finally stopped screaming, only because he needed to breathe.

"Now what?"

"Let him go," came the order.

The weight on Leo lifted. He opened his eyes, not realizing that he had closed them to begin with. Frantic, he glanced around at the men standing around him.

Leo opened his eyes when he felt the weight on him disappear. He saw the men standing near him and wondered what they would do next. Surely, they meant to kill him before the night was over.

"Oh, here. You wouldn't want to be without this now would you?" Taunted the man who had stolen Leo's phone earlier. He placed the device on the rooftop a few inches away from Leo.

"How long until it takes full effect?" The man was asked when he rejoined his comrades.

"It should have effect real soon. Without the cure, he dies!" He laughed evilly.

Without another word to the turtle, the group of assassins disappeared as suddenly as they had come. Leo didn't understand anything they had said, but he knew that it couldn't be good.

Shifting his arm, he looked down at his side. The arrow was still buried deep there. He winced as even this tiny movement sent pain racketing through his exhausted body. His vision swam and he feared he might black out, but he would not give up so easily.

Spotting his phone, Leo dragged himself forward praying that it wasn't broken. It was his only lifeline right now for help. He managed to get himself to the phone, open it up, and pressed the distress button. Then the pain became too much and the blue banded turtle collapsed.

**Beta read by MissMoMo1990. **


	3. Chapter 3

It had been some time since Leo had left the lair. Rather than wait up, Splinter had gone to bed on the assumption that he could trust his oldest son to stay out of trouble topside.

In the leader's absence, Raph had calmed down considerably and had abandoned his punching bag in favor of watching television. While the hothead may not have been concerned with Leo's lengthy departure, Don certainly was. Leo still needed to have his injury treated. The purple-masked ninja tinkered aimlessly in his lab as he waited for Leo to return as was soon joined by Mikey.

"Donny, I'm really starting to get worried about Leo," the youngest said, getting straight to the point.

"You and me both," Don replied. "He should have checked in by now."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a loud beeping noise came from the computer. Don ran to it and saw that the distress signal on Leo's shell cell had been activated. That could only mean that Leo was in trouble.

"Leo's in danger! We have to go!" Don shouted.

In a flash, he grabbed his Bo and duffel bag. He raced out of the lab with Mikey close behind. They ran straight to the living room to get Raph's attention.

"Leo's in trouble! We need your help!" Mikey informed him.

"Where's he at, Donny?" Raph asked as he jumped to his feet.

No matter how mad he might have been at his big brother, Raph would never wish to see Leo harmed by anyone. He'd be there for Leo in a heartbeat. Going to the surface was just the added bonus of rushing to the leader's aid.

From his duffel bag, Don extracted the tracking device he used to monitor the location of each of their shell cells. He studied the screen for a moment. The blue blip that corresponded to Leo was quite a distance from the lair.

"Midtown," Donny announced to his brothers.

"Well, let's get going then," Raph replied and started for the garage.

Donny and Mikey hustled after him. The trio was so focused on their mission that they neglected to wake Splinter and anything about where they were going. They crowded into the elevator that took them to the garage at a painstakingly slow rate. As soon as the heavy door slid open, they ran for the Battle Shell, buckled in and sped off in the direction of the signal that Leo's phone was giving.

All throughout their journey, Leo's phone signal hadn't moved at all. From the passenger seat, Don directed Raph through traffic towards their destination. The tension inside the Battle Shell was thick and heavy. Each brother fervently wished that Leo would be where the tracker indicated he was and that he hadn't been taken hostage.

"I hope he's okay," Mikey said, breaking the overall silence of the small group.

"I'm sure he's just fine." Raph grunted even as his hands gripped the steering wheel tighter and his foot pressed a little harder on the gas pedal.

"You're the one who made him go out in the first place!" Mikey snapped at him.

"Only cause he wouldn't leave me alone!" Raph argued back, shooting a dirty look at Mikey's reflection in the rearview mirror.

"Stop it, you two!" Don ordered loudly. "Getting to Leo is more important that your stupid argument!" The genius stopped glaring at his brothers and returned his attention to the tracker in his hand. He glanced up again as they passed a street sign and pointed to the left. "There's an alley just up ahead! Park there!"

Raph did as he was told, bringing the large truck to a screeching halt in the dark side street. Following Don's lead, they jumped out of the Battle Shell and jogged to a rusting fire escape attached to the tall, brick building they had arrived at. Don shoved the tracker in his belt and began to climb.

"Leo's on the roof," he told the other two.

"I don't hear signs of a struggle," Raph noted, his ears straining to hear the slightest sound of a fight.

"Leo wouldn't have hit the distress button if there wasn't anything wrong." Mikey insisted.

The three of them reached the top in record time. Instantly, they spotted their missing leader. There, in the middle of the roof, was Leo. The sight before them made their eyes widen in horror. Their big brother was unconscious, bloody, and an arrow was buried deep into his side.

"LEO!" They cried as one and raced forward to kneel beside him.

"Is he-?" Mikey asked desperately, tears already forming in his eyes.

Don felt Leo's throat for a pulse. "It's very weak. We have to get him back to the lair quickly. He's lost a lot of blood."

Raph was beginning to feel guilty for how he had treated Leo earlier. If he had known this was going to happen he wouldn't have made his brother mad enough to leave the lair. Pushing those thoughts aside, Raph listened closely to Don's instructions for moving Leo.

Very carefully, Raph and Don picked up the leader and carried him down the fire escape while Mikey swept the area for any attackers who may have remained behind. The assortment of turtles made it safely to the ground. Whoever had attacked Leo appeared to be long gone. In the alley, Mikey spotted Leo's fallen swords and quickly grabbed them, knowing all too well how he felt about his blades.

Raph and Don set Leo down in the back of the Battle Shell as gently as possible. Mikey took Raph's place at the wheel and sped home as fast as he dared. The genius wrapped Leo's wounds as best as he could, mindful of the arrow that was stuck in the green flesh. He then had Raph apply pressure to the wound. Glancing over the rest of Leo's body, Don noticed that his right leg was bruised and awkwardly arranged. Don felt it gingerly and realized at once that it was broken. Already, his mind was formulating a plan for how he would begin to treat Leo once they reached the lair.

Mikey braked hard as he drove into the garage, parked, and killed the ignition. The hot engine popped and ticked beneath the hood. Jumping from the driver's seat, Mikey hurried around and opened the back doors to help carry Leo. They descended in the elevator, rushing out of the still opening doors to take the eldest to the infirmary and placing him on the cot inside.

"Mikey, go get Master Splinter. I might need his help with Leo," Don ordered.

"Got it," Mikey said and left the room.

"What can I do?" Raph asked.

"Keep an eye on his breathing and keep pressure on that arrow wound for now," Don replied as he bustled around the infirmary collecting supplies. "I will also need your help holding him down to set his leg after the arrow is out."

A few seconds later, Mikey returned with their father. Splinter had a worried look on his face. He hurried to Leo's side, desperate to see for himself how bad of shape his son was in. The eldest still had not regained consciousness.

"What happened to Leonardo?" Splinter questioned in a surprisingly calm voice.

"He was attacked while he was out, but we don't know who did it," Don replied. He glanced up at the rat. "I need to remove this arrow, but yanking it out would cause more damage. I'll have to cut it out. Can you call April and let her know we have a medical emergency? She'll know what to bring."

With a simple nod of understanding, Splinter turned and exited the room to go phone their human allies. Don continued to study the arrow wound. He didn't like what he saw.

"So how bad is it, Doc?" Raph asked his brother.

"I'm not really sure yet," Don admitted. "It depends on whether or not the arrow hit anything vital. Getting it out won't be easy and it certainly won't be painless. I'm going to put Leo on an IV and administer an anesthetic to numb the pain. Keep holding that bandage steady."

"Got it," Raph muttered, grimacing as blood soaked through the bandages he held and stained his fingers.

Leo's breathing had become shallow. Don fixed an oxygen mask over his brother's mouth. He proceeded to feed an IV into Leo's vein on his right arm and attached the electrodes of the telemetry monitor he had salvaged to Leo's chest. Don then assigned Mikey the task of monitoring the leader's vitals for the time being.

Not long after that, April arrived with Casey. She had brought along an assortment of medical supplies, a large majority of them bandages. Don shooed all but April from the room and the two began the grisly task of removing the arrow.

The long wound itself was mainly just along the surface, but the area immediately surrounding the arrowhead needed to be opened up. Don carefully cut into the tissues as April watched Leo's vitals. There was a lot of bleeding as he removed the foreign object.

April dutifully sucked up the excess blood so that Don could have clear access inside Leo's abdominal cavity. In his exploration, Don came across Leo's stomach. His heart sank as he noticed a hole in the organ.

"The arrow punctured his stomach," Don he told his assistant grimly.

"I believe you'll be able to save his life, Donny." April said with genuine confidence.

"I hope you're right," he replied.

Don worked quickly to repair the arrow's destruction. With expert stitches, he sewed up Leo's stomach, the outer layers of tissues, and finally the skin. Don knew already that there would be significant scarring, but that couldn't be helped. After applying some antibacterial gel to the wound, Don covered the area with a large, clean bandage.

They checked Leo's other wound in his left arm. It required less stitches. After that, he was treating the broken leg. Don took an x-ray to find out what had happened internally and how to put it back in place. The bones were completely cracked. Raph and Casey were called back into the room to help hold Leo still.

Neither of the two tough guys could watch as Don reset the bones. Instead, they concentrated on holding the leader down and shut their ears to the sound of bones shifting. Don fashioned a splint. Two pieces of wood were braced against Leo's leg and then bandaged. April said she could get a brace later on, but this would have to do for now.

Mike and Splinter came back in after they were done to see how Leo was doing. He looked quite pale from the loss of blood and the breathing mask still covered his nose and mouth. Yet the steady beep of the heart monitor informed everyone that he was at least stable. The anesthesia would soon wear off and he would be able to wake up, but he had to make the decision to wake up.

"Now that Leonardo is stable, you should all try to get some sleep," Splinter told his family, but his gaze was fixed on Don, who was about ready to drop from exhaustion. "I will stay with my son."

His three other children were reluctant to leave Leo's side, but he insisted. Slowly, they shuffled off to their rooms. April and Casey had decided to stay in case they were needed and settled into the lair's guest room for the remainder of the night.

Raph felt the most guilty for what had happened. As he closed the door to his room, he spoke his thoughts out loud, "Leo, I hope you don't leave me. I didn't mean what I said. You annoy me yes, but I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here anymore." Tears fell from his eyes. "Please stay with us, Leo. I promise I'll get the ones who did this to you."

Don laid down in his bed and closed his eyes, but his brain refused to rest as he thought about the night's events. He hoped that all his and April's hard work would pay off in the end with Leo recovering. It had been a challenge to do that intensive surgery. There had been just barely enough space between the shell and plastron to cut into the tissues without having to open up some of Leo's plastron too. With the skin just having been patched up, Leo would recover in just a couple of weeks from that, but his broken leg would take a little longer to heal.

But the most pressing question that plagued the genius was who had done this to Leo? The leader was the only one who knew and they would have to wait for him to wake up before they could get their answer. Minutes ticked by slowly and eventually, Donny fell into an uneasy sleep.

**Beta read by MissMoMo1990. **

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	4. Chapter 4

Splinter stayed up the rest of the night with Leonardo. Though he didn't show any signs of waking up, his vitals remained stable. That alone helped to put Splinter's mind at ease.

In the morning, Splinter declared that training was canceled for the day. He knew that Leo was too much of a concern at the moment and no one would be able to concentrate. Casey took April out for a walk in Central Park.

Don checked him first thing after he got up. For the first time in days, he felt well rested.

"There were no changes, Donatello." Splinter said, keeping his eyes on Leonardo.

"I really wish I knew who did this to him." Don said.

"And when Leonardo wakes up, he'll tell us."

"You should go get some rest now, Sensei. I've had some sleep." Don said, placing his hand on Splinter's shoulder. He made sure that the tone in his voice left no room for argument.

"I am." Splinter said as he stood. "Make sure you eat something too, my son."

"I will," Donatello agreed.

Mikey reluctantly made some breakfast while Don was watching Leo. Just some toast, eggs, and bacon. He took some to the lab for Don. Raph didn't really feel like eating for how guilty he felt.

Don ate the food that Mikey had given to him. He knew he needed his energy.

In the afternoon, Don and Raph switched shifts.

Raph was sitting in a chair next to Leo's cot. His brother was hooked up to so many machines to help him live.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you, Leo. If I could do things differently, I would. But I promise whoever did this to ya will pay." Raph said.

Within a few hours, Leo began to stir from his unconsciousness. He moaned, turning his head to the side, away from the light.

Raph looked up, unsure if he was simply hearing things or not. But then he heard Leo moan again. Raph got up and went to check on him.

Leo felt something on his face. Floating in a state of half consciousness he felt nice and warm, and then tried to move his arms. He was in a slight panic attack with the breathing mask over his face, fearing he was in the enemy's lair.

"Leo, Leo, it's alright. You're safe." Raph had reached him.

Leo calmed down when he saw his brother. "Raph?" He said.

"I'm here for ya, Leo. You were hurt pretty badly. You need to lie still." Raph said.

Though his arm felt heavy, Leo managed to pull the mask from off his mouth and nose. "Oh, what happened?"

"Ya don't remember?"

"I don't know. Maybe when I'm awake more." Leo said, looking off to the side in thought.

"Yeah, you have been pretty out of it for the past several hours since we found ya." Then Raph went to the edge of the infirmary. "Guys! He's awake!"

It brought Don, Mikey, and Splinter back into the room followed by Casey and April.

"How are you feeling, Leo?" Don asked, rushing to his brother's side.

"Tired."

"Any pain?" Don said as he flashed a light in Leo's eyes to check their reaction.

"I don't feel much of anything right now. I don't even know what's hurt?"

"You had a long cut on your left side, a cut arm, an arrow in the same wound, and your right leg is broken." Don explained. "But only you can tell us what happened and who did this to you. I had to go surgically into your abdominal cavity and sew your stomach back up because the arrow had pierced it."

As Donatello was explaining what he had had to treat on him, Leo remembered it all.

Don noticed Leo's breathing was picking up. "Leo? What's wrong?"

"As you were explaining, yeah, I remember it all now. I don't even want to remember the pain those monsters put me through!"

"Who did this to you?" Mikey asked.

"Was it the Foot?" Raph asked.

"No." Leo said.

"The Purple Dragons?" Raph asked.

"No."

"If it had been Bishop, he would have taken you with him." Don said.

"No. It wasn't any of those guys. It was someone new." Leo started.

"Great. That's all we need, a new enemy!" Raph remarked angrily.

"They were large, muscle bound men. They could fight like ninjas, and it was both their skills and strength that overwhelmed me. They held me down and cut me up. They said that they called themselves the Giant Assassin Gang." Leo explained what he remembered.

"I've never heard of them before, so they must be new." Don said. "I'll have to look them up later."

"I'll help," April offered. "You do your research here over the internet while I ask around."

"We will get them back for what they did to you later, my son, but for now, you must rest." Splinter said. "I am just glad they didn't succeed in taking you away from us." He held his hand gently to the un-bruised side of Leo's face.

Leo gave a weak smile. "Me too."

"Leo." Raph said.

The weak leader looked over at his red banded brother. "Yes, Raph."

"I'm sorry, for everythin', bro." Raph said.

"I'm sorry too, for being so bossy, but I just have to do what is right for the family and you, Raph."

"I know. Get well for now, big brother."

Leo was glad he had had a chance to explain things to his family and that they were around him, but right now, he couldn't stay awake anymore and he went back to sleep.

"Let him sleep for now." Splinter said and he ushered the others out of the room. "I think the danger has passed." Don was allowed to stay since the infirmary was his area.

…..

A few hours later, Leo woke up again, and pain from his injuries returned.

"Are you ok, Leo?" Don asked him. He had been working on his computer and turned from it when Leo had awoken.

"My injuries, they hurt." Leo cringed.

"I have some pain medicine that should help. Here." Don said and came forward with two pills and a glass of water.

Leo raised himself up just a little bit. He could feel the bandage pulling at the skin on his side. He took the water and pills. He saw the bandage on his left arm.

"Despite the pain, do you feel like you could try to eat something?" Don asked. "You haven't eaten for a while."

"Ok. I'll try something gentle." Leo said.

Don went to tell Mikey that Leo was ready to eat some food. Leo knew that Mikey would probably just make some soup for him. Mikey's soup was incredible.

Leo laid back and tried to ignore the pain he was in. He knew he was going to be miserable waiting for his injuries to heal. He hated being bedridden. He hated all of this.

He was the leader, he was the big brother. He was supposed to take care of his family, and now they had to take care of him again. Was being leader of this team a curse? He seemed to be targeted the most.

A little bit later, Mikey came into the infirmary with a food tray. It had a dish of chicken soup and some toast on it.

"Leo, time to eat," he said in a sing song voice, trying to lighten the mood.

Leo had closed his eyes and tried meditating lying down to take his mind off his pain. He opened his eyes when he heard Mikey's voice.

He was helped to sit up so he wouldn't tear the stitches in his side.

The tray was then sat over his legs. Leo could now feel his right leg and he felt the splint on it.

"Let me know when you're done eating." Mikey said.

"Thanks, Mikey."

Leo didn't feel all that hungry at the moment, but he knew he needed to get his strength back. He picked up the spoon and began to eat the soup slowly. After taking the pain medicine, he had begun to feel a little nauseated.

Halfway through eating his meal, something happened. All of a sudden, pain so sharp flared up in his stomach that Leo couldn't eat anymore and he had to lay back down. He couldn't help the cry of pain that escaped him.

"AAGH!" The whole family heard from the infirmary and ran to the room. Then there was a crash.

When they got there, the bowl of soup was on the floor with the toast scattered elsewhere.

"Leo! What's wrong?!" Don asked worriedly, carefully approaching his brother as he maneuvered around the mess.

They all saw Leo lying on his back with his hands clutched to his stomach.

"It hurts!" Leo screamed. "Please… make it stop!"

"What happened?!" Raph demanded.

Splinter came forward to try to comfort his son. "Just try to take deep breaths, Leonardo."

Leo cringed, but he tried to do what his father told him.

The pain diminished a little bit after Leo had taken several deep breaths. "It feels a little better now."

"What happened, Leo?" Don asked.

"I was just eating the soup and halfway through eating it, my stomach just all of a sudden started hurting so bad. It felt like someone was stabbing me!" Leo explained.

"Could it have been the wound in his stomach, Don?" Mikey asked.

"It's possible, but I doubt that was the cause." Don said.

"When was the last time you ate, my son?" Splinter asked.

"How long was I out?"

"You went out last night and you were unconscious most of the day today." Mikey said.

"Then I remember eating dinner yesterday and that's it after that."

Then another round of cramps came on again. Leo seized his stomach again. "It's coming back!"

"This is bad. Could it be a gas attack?" Raph asked.

"Leo usually eats pretty healthy and usually doesn't have these attacks, but the attack on him sure must have caused something to go wrong." Don said.

"Deep breaths, my son." Splinter encouraged Leo.

Leo had now moved onto his right side, holding his belly. He tried desperately to breathe. He whimpered in pain.

Don began wondering if there was any possible poison on the arrow, or if the men had forced anything down Leo's throat while they were torturing him.

"Leo, did those men force you to swallow anything?" Don asked.

"No!" Leo said through the pain.

"Then there might have been poison on that arrow. I need to get to work to see if you have poison in your system."

When the pain settled enough again, Leo rolled over. "I do recall, Don, that just before the guy on top of me jammed that arrow into my side, I heard one of them say to lance the arrow with something, and I heard something sloshing about behind me." He recalled.

"I'm going to take some blood from you to see if there is anything that shouldn't be there." Don said and he went and got a needle and syringe. He took the blood from Leo's right arm just before another round of pain hit Leo's stomach again.

Splinter stayed by Leo's side while Don went to go analyze the blood.

"I wish there was something we could do to stop your pain, Leo." Mikey said.

"Me, too." Leo moaned.

Leo wasn't normally a complainer about his pain, but this pain was just too much. He felt like he was constantly being stabbed whenever an attack came on.

When Don examined Leo's blood, indeed there was an imperfection in it. He knew this was going to be difficult, but he had to do this.

He came back to the others. "There is something in your blood. I think it's a kind of poison. I need to find the source of its toxicity. Leo, were these guys anything like ninjas, you might have said?"

"They used ninja weapons. Do you know where my swords are?" Leo asked.

"Helping you was our priority first, but Mikey found them afterwards. They are currently in the dojo."

Don tried to think of kinds of poisons that ninjas used. He went back and looked up the research on them and on what blood cells looked like and symptoms going along with it.

**Beta read by MissMoMo1990 and Applepye. **

**Reviews always make my day. **


	5. Chapter 5

It took a little while to find the answer to the problem.

Over the course of a few hours, Leo had gotten worse. He had thrown up his food, he felt very stiff in the muscles now, he was feverish, his chest hurt, it hurt to breathe and yet, Splinter was telling him to keep taking deep breathes, he was sweaty and his vision had turned blurry. His stomach continued to keep hurting as well especially.

Mikey had cleaned up the soup and toast up off the floor from before.

Raph had brought in a bucket for Leo to throw up in.

"Hurry up, Don! He's gettin' worse!" Raph had hollered back to Don.

Don then came in rather hurriedly. "I found out what Leo has! He's been poisoned with Aconitine. It's a form of monkshood. It's a poison that ninjas use."

"OK, but what's the antidote, Brainiac?"

"Lidocaine, Tetrodotoxin, and Paeoniflorin can all help to cure the poison, but until we can get our hands on one of those, we can also give Leo some Tannic acid or powdered charcoal, or caffeine or strong coffee. And of course, I happen to have that on hand."

Don told them, trying not to confuse them with medical terminology.

Don then went to the kitchen to try to make up some for Leo. He knew his brother wasn't crazy for the stuff, but it would have to do for now. Don feared Leo didn't have much time.

It didn't take too long for the water and coffee powder to make the coffee.

Don put some in a glass, covered it with a lid, and put a straw in it. It would be easier for Leo to take it this way right now. He took it back to the infirmary.

Leo was struggling to try to contain the pain. He had just thrown up again. Mikey rubbed the back of his shell.

Raph was glad to be helping as much as he could, but this was grossing him out.

"I have some coffee ready for him." Don said as he came in.

"I hope this helps him, Don. I hate seeing him this way." Mikey said.

"Me too. Here goes. Leo, I know you don't normally like coffee, but right now, I need you to drink this. It might help to dull the pain until I can get the antidote for the poison." Don said.

"OK." Leo groaned. He took the straw into his mouth and began to slowly drink the caffeinated beverage. He knew this was for his own good.

Leo wanted so much to spit the coffee out, but he had to drink it. He just hoped this would help him and he wouldn't bring it back up again. Whatever this poison was sure had a strong toxicity to it.

"What was the poison again?" Leo asked in between gulps.

"Aconitine." Don said and explained its toxicity.

Sure, Leo had studied poisons before, but it had been a little while. He should have remembered this one, as it was one that ninjas used on their arrows quite a bit. The poison had gotten into his blood by the arrow.

While Leo was drinking the coffee, Don talked to April and said that she needed to pick up a product medicine called White Peony Root Extract Powder for Leo. It contained Paeoniflorin that Don was going to treat the poison with before it got worse.

April said she would gladly run to any pharmacy where it was available. Ordering it would be a problem. There were plenty of places here in New York that would surely sell it.

"Check the Chinatown markets most of all." Don urged. "It's used in Chinese medicine a lot."

"Okay. I'll be here with it as soon as I can." She said.

When she and Casey left, Don came back over and watched as Leo finished drinking the coffee. He took the cup back.

"That tasted terrible!" Leo complained. "I just hope it helps."

"It won't cure it, but it should coat your stomach long enough for April to get here with the cure." Don said.

...

April and Casey went straight to Chinatown to try to locate a pharmacy that might carry what Don had asked for. She had written it down to remember it.

She went to the one that was nearly directly in that vicinity called the Buy-Rite Pharmacy. She went in and with a little hard looking, she found what she needed, paid for it, and left. She hoped this would save Leo's life.

...

Back at the lair, Leo was wanting to sleep real badly, but his family was keeping him awake, in fear he was going to die.

April and Casey soon arrived back from their errand. It had taken over 2 and a half hours to get there, as traffic had been so bad at 5'o clock.

The couple ran into the lair with the required medication, as April ran to Don's side, she said quickly.

"Sorry, we tried to hurry but hit rush hour."

Don mumbled. "That's fine."

Don quickly took the tablets out and gave Leo two of them along with a glass of water.

Leo gladly took them. His hands were becoming stiff now. His father made sure he didn't drop the glass.

"How long do we have to wait for it to kick in?" Raph asked.

"An hour at least. Maybe more. We'll have to keep making Leo take the tablets many times for a few days to make sure the poison works its way out of his body. And until then, we just keep an eye on him." Don said. "And maybe he can have some of the other stuff to treat it too. We also need some charcoal just in case."

"I'll be happy to get that too." April said. "I'm happy to do this for you."

She left to go get some more supplies for them.

Leo could also have soda since it too had caffeine in it. He would have preferred the soda over the coffee any day. But he would still want his tea, but it would have to wait until he was in the clear of this poison.

A few hours passed and he was finally given an all clear at least to try to get some rest again. His stomach still ached a little bit, but the sensation had dulled to where it was more bearable that he wouldn't cry out all the time.

Leo turned onto his right side and managed to fall asleep again. He was still hooked up to the IV and the heart monitor. He still might not be entirely out of the woods yet, but he was glad he could get some rest again.

Mikey stayed with him for his watch this time.

April soon came back with some powdered charcoal. It would be given to Leo the next time he woke up. They also needed to wait to see how his stomach felt then too.

...

Despite the poison being managed, Leo had had to battle a fever over the next few days. His family stayed with him constantly, barely leaving him. They had to keep his temperature down and make sure he didn't get worse. He also threw up a few times. It was real hard for Leo to find an appetite.

His senses began to return to normal after 5 days. That day, his fever finally broke, but he was still hot and weak. He could also feel the pain in his left side. He couldn't lay on it when it was like this.

Leo finally felt well enough to be able to sit up in bed and try to eat some soup Mikey had made for him. This time though, his stomach didn't rebel against him. The antidotes were working!

It was the next day before they let Leo out of bed for the first time in days. By now, April had gotten a leg brace for the broken leg. Don put it on Leo's leg with the splint still intact.

Now that the brace was on, Leo sat on the edge of the cot looking down at his body. He saw his bandaged arm; his left side covered up, and with that just to keep it in place, some more longer ones were tied around his waist; and his right leg in the splint and brace. He couldn't believe those monsters had done that to him!

His family was all in the infirmary watching him take his first steps off the cot and in the brace. It felt awkward as he finally pushed himself up onto his feet. His hurt leg did give him some notice that it was hurting and he needed to be careful. But he wasn't going to give up.

The main bones had been shattered in the leg and that's what needed to heal the most physically. And it would be a long road ahead for that. Leo was just glad that he didn't have to use crutches.

As for Leo's side, the cut was healing, but it would need at least another week before the stitches came out. And his arm would be fine in a few days.

Now that he was feeling a lot better, Leo really wanted to get back into training.

"Leo, at least wait until the stitches in your side come out. It was a very deep, intense cut. It doesn't need to be torn open." Don warned.

"I know. I just hate that this even happened to me." Leo said.

"Other than your fight with Raph, what happened that night?" Don asked.

"These muscle bound men were all wearing head masks and couldn't see their faces. They want to take down our family. And I'm sure they wanted to think that by taking me out of the picture, it would make you all try to avenge me. And I know it's something that you would do for me, as I would do it for any of you."

"When you're recovered, we'll track these evil men down. I know better than to say that you couldn't come into a battle with us against someone who hurt you." Don said.

"Thanks, Don."

While Leo was healing, the family was working on a plan to track down this new enemy and seek justice for what they did to their leader.

**Beta read by Turtlefanforlife1982.**


	6. Chapter 6

The next week seemed all too slow for Leo. He watched his brothers train daily and wished badly to be sparring with them.

By the end of the week that finally came, Don removed all the stitches in his arm and side.

Leo looked carefully at the one in his side. There would be a nice scar there. The wound had sealed nicely. Now he could return to lighter katas. But he knew his leg was still healing and wouldn't be doing any jumping around. Plus the brace would hold him down.

Raph still felt bad after what happened and when he thought Leo was going to die, it had softened his feelings a lot more and was willing to help him out and listen to him a lot more. Though he was past the critical point now, he still wanted to help make up for what he did.

Leo tried to continue doing things as he normally would, but climbing stairs with the brace on was a little hard for him. But he managed to deal with it. He just had to hang on to the rail a lot more.

Mikey was amazed at how well Leo was dealing with a broken leg. At least Leo wasn't trying to constantly scratch at it like he did when he had two broken legs. To him, he only saw his oldest brother acting like he always had. Overprotective, a bit bossy at times, and being a leader and big brother despite not being able to go to the surface.

After the worst had passed, Leo's brothers had resumed their more normal routines and going on patrol again. Leo just couldn't go with them for the time being. While he stayed home, he and Splinter did some one on one time together. Meditating, talking, watching some TV, and even some small katas. Splinter only watched Leo perform simple ones that might involve walking around, but nothing too intense.

During this time that Leo couldn't venture to the surface, Raphael was being given a chance to prove himself if he could make it as a leader. Leo's incident had mellowed him out quite a bit for now, but he still got plenty rough with the bad guys out there. He was just also more than anxious to track down those evil morons for nearly killing his brother.

They all had enough enemies as it was, and it was all because they were different to the world. But being different didn't mean that they couldn't make a difference and foiling bad guy plans was their way of making differences in the world. Even if they were never officially thanked for it enough.

Now that Leo seemed to be completely recovered from his incident, aside from his leg, Don did begin to look for these villains online.

He found them. They were mostly a private organization and didn't give out too much information about their group. They were from a different state. But then, how did they know about them? Someone else must have called them over to take them out, as Leo had explained.

Leo didn't grow restless very often, but after more than 3 weeks down in the lair with no topside excursions for him, he began to get a little impatient for some fun and adventure.

One night, April and Casey invited the mutant family over to April's for dinner and a movie. Even they could understand how restless Leo could be getting. He was a action turtle, if slightly less than Raph and Mikey.

They had a few different pizzas for dinner, followed by some ice cream. Then they all sat down to watch a movie. Since Casey had chosen the movie again, in honor of Leo, he had chosen The Last Samurai.

They all enjoyed the movie. It was real late by the time the movie had ended. The family went home after that, thanking their human friends for dinner and the movie.

They were all real tired when they got home and went to bed.

…

Leo wanted so badly to not have to wear this annoying splint and brace anymore. Behind closed doors, it was more than an irritation. He tried to ignore the itching. He hated feeling the weight of it on his leg. He couldn't even be allowed to get it wet. Even being able to take a shower had changed.

Don would check his leg weekly without anything on it and it felt good for his leg to be out to the air, but it would soon be covered up again.

Leo had to take baths instead of showers now. He did enjoy the baths and it was the only other time he could take the splint and brace off. One of his brothers always had to scrub off the back of his shell. Course they did that with each other all the time anyway.

Sometimes he wondered if his enemies thought they had taken him out. Why he hadn't been seen topside for so long. It didn't matter though. Leo would be making his comeback with a vengeance as soon as he was able to.

…

The more patrols and breakups that the trio of turtles did on the streets, Hun had seen just the three of them, and had begun to think that those assassins had done their job right and killed the lead turtle. The men had said that they had injured the leader quite well and had even poisoned him. His family couldn't have found the antidote in time.

Hun sent a huge, fat check in the mail to their business for taking care of the turtles' leader. Now, they just needed to come back and finish the job on his family.

When the assassins got the check, they were pleased. Those turtles couldn't take their leader to a hospital like they could a human, so they were sure the mutants had lost their leader. But now, they had the invitation to come back and finish the others, as they were being seen a lot more on the streets.

They packed up and went back to New York.

**Beta read with Turtlefanforlife1982. **

**Reviews always give me a better day. **


	7. Chapter 7

It had been another agonizing week or two since Leo got the stitches taken out, he still had the brace on his leg. He was becoming more restless now that he could do light katas and exercise more. As the weeks were dragging on, he was becoming moodier.

Leo watched his brothers one evening get ready for patrol. He had this sickening feeling they should not go. He saw Raph come near him and said, "Raph, you sure you guys should do a patrol tonight? They are calling for storms tonight."

Raph looked at his brother with a quizzing look and said, "Leo, we have been out during storms before, we know how to be safe wit out ya so don't worry. We will be fine. I will make sure we don't go across metal rooftops. Will that ease your mind?"

Raph waited for his brother to speak. He noticed him wince when he shifted his bad leg to look up at him more clearly.

"That's not the only thing, I feel like... I feel like something else is going to happen…. Call me crazy, but I think you guys might get into a fight that you can't get out of." Leo said.

Raph sighed and sat on the edge of the arm of the couch and said with slight frustration in his voice. "Leo, look, I know you have these feelings every now and then, but we will be fine. I won't let anyone hurt our little brothers, ok. So just calm down, and rest like Don told ya to. Yer leg ain't gonna get no betta if you keep staying tense all the time. We will be back before midnight I promise, OK?"

Leo looked up at his brother from where he was sitting and told him honestly. "Raph, I..."

"Hey Raphie! Are we going or not?! Donnie says there was a reported break in near Midtown!"

Raph rolled his eyes at their youngest brother, and shouted back. "I'll be right there, goofball! Tell Donny-boy to keep his shell on!"

Raph turned back to their leader and said, "Leo, don't give me that look bro, we will be fine. I will call Casey if we need back up, alright?"

Leo nodded and said, "There's no changing your mind once it's made up, so yeah, I guess it's fine. But call me if you can."

Raph stood up and adjusted his sai that nearly fell out of its holder. "Sure thing bro, I will give ya an update before we head home."

Their two younger brothers came jogging into the room. Mikey was a bundle of energy as always.

"See ya, Leo! We will be back in a while and tell ya about the butts we kick out there!"

In saying, Mikey ran out of the lair followed by his two older brothers.

The feeling never went away in Leo's stomach.

...

As Raph lead the way out of the sewers he began to see what Leo was talking about; it was a boiling feeling down in the pit of his stomach that left a foul taste in his mouth. Like eating two day old cold pizza.

They got to the surface and found a route to the rooftops. As they ran towards Midtown, Raph's stomach got heavier. Suddenly, something silver raced past his head. He turned to see what it was.

An arrow was imbedded in the chimney near Mikey, who was looking shades greener.

Mikey gulped when the arrow nearly missed his face. He looked over at his brothers, who had their weapons at the ready and asked them, "What was that? Who shot it?"

"Shh, keep it down Mikey, we don't wanna be..."

A shuriken flew in their direction. Donnie blocked it with his bo and added to his sentence. "…seen."

All three turtles looked and saw some men standing there. They wore ninja fighting gear, but were definitely not the Foot.

Raph looked at his two younger brothers and said, "Alright! Let's do this!"

With a battle cry, he charged forward with his sais in hand. Mikey and Donnie were close behind.

The battle raged on for several moments. Raph heard Donnie cry out. Looking over, the young genius was on the ground supporting a bad gash to his right arm and trying to hold himself up with his staff. The ninja that was fighting him kicked him in the back of the shell, sending the purple clad turtle to the ground.

"Donnie!" Raph raced in his direction, taking down one thug after another. Raph just prayed that whatever his brother got slashed with was not poisoned.

Fighting off the ninjas, Raph got to his brother's side. "Hang in there. We need to get out of here."

Donnie was breathing hard but he nodded, hearing his brother's words. He gasped and said one word. "Mikey..."

Raph turned around and saw his baby brother unconscious on the cold, hard ground. With anger filling his every fiber, Raphael raged forward with his sai in hand and sliced through some of the ninjas that were surrounding them.

He picked up Mikey and turned, seeing Donnie getting up as well. Adjusting Mikey into one arm temporarily, he pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it down.

It was just enough cover for them to make their escape. At first Raph wasn't sure if Donnie was going to be able to keep up, but the bo wielding ninja kept pace with Raph. They made it down to the street as fast as they could go, given their injuries.

Donnie was able to pull the manhole cover off and they slipped down into the sewers.

They raced back to the lair where Raph now had to explain why Mikey was out and Donnie was hurt. He himself sustained a few injuries as well, but not as bad as his two younger brothers.

Leo was sitting in a chair with his leg up when his immediate younger brother raced in with an unconscious Mikey and bleeding Donnie behind him.

Leo stood up so fast that he hissed in pain when he put his full weight on his leg. Donnie frowned and said quickly, forgetting his arm. "Leo, not so fast!"

Leo scowled at him and said, "Shut it, Donnie."

He walked quickly behind his brothers as they raced to the infirmary. Once there, Raph laid Mikey down and cleaned up Donnie's arm. A while back, Donnie had taught Raph basic first aid so he could help out if Donnie was injured too.

As he finished wrapping Donnie's arm in gauze, Leonardo came back in with Splinter.

"What happened, Raphael?"

Raph taped Donnie's arm up and looked over at their father and stated, "We were ambushed. Donnie and Mikey took hits. Damn it! Why won't this tape stay?"

With shaking hands, he unfolded the tape again and tried once more to keep the gauze in place. With a frustrated grunt, he tried again.

Splinter raced over and took the tape roll and tore a piece off and put it on his second youngest son's arm.

Raph raced over to Mikey and said to him, "Come on Mikey, say somethin."

Donnie came over with his equipment and began to get to work.

He found a knot on Mikey's head and said to his family, "Mikey has a concussion and a pretty bad one at that."

Splinter turned to Raphael, and saw he had some cuts and bruises on him. "My son, you're injured too."

Raphael shrugged and said, "More worried about my brothers than me. Fix them first, then worry about me."

Raph walked around to the other side of Mikey when Donnie went to do blood work. The quick movement had Raph's head spinning; he felt the room going in circles. He sat on the stool Donnie had next to the bed and said, "Oh... I don't feel so good..."

Grabbing a trash can nearby, he cleared out his stomach contents. Splinter ran over and felt his son's head. It was burning hot. "Donatello, he is running a fever. Leonardo, get me a cool washcloth. Raphael, please, I need you to lie down."

Raph allowed his father to lead him to the other bed and help him lie down.

"Was I poisoned too?" Raph asked.

Donnie got fresh needles and drew blood from Raph. Racing over to his analyzer, he waited a few moments then said, "Sensei, we will know within the hour what is wrong with Raph. It could be the adrenaline rush from the fight wearing off too, but I want to make sure."

Leo called Casey and April. The couple came down quickly and waited for the results. While waiting, Mikey woke up.

Mikey sat up and asked, "Whoa, what hit me?"

Donnie looked his baby brother over and said softly, "A metal pipe. They hit you over the head. How do you feel?"

Mikey held his head with one hand and said, "Like someone hit me with a truck."

Then Mikey noticed his left wrist was wrapped up and asked, "Is it busted?"

Donnie smiled sadly and said, "No, it's badly sprained though. You will be back to yourself in no time."

Casey spoke up from where he was sitting. "How's Raph? What do we know?"

Donnie looked over at their human friend and said, "Well, the analyzer hasn't..."

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"…gone off."

Donnie ran to the printer and ignored the pain in his arm as he read over the results. "Good news is he was not poisoned; it was a tranquilizer. Must have taken a long time to kick in. Raph has the most stamina out of any of us."

April spoke up next to Leo, "So what do we do now?"

"We need time to heal, a place to go other than here," Splinter answered.

Casey spoke up. "Well, it looks like we're goin' to my grandma's house again."

Splinter agreed with the decision and the family packed up. Once everything was packed into the Battle Shell, they waited for Raph to wake up. Once awake, they made the trip out to the farmhouse for healing time.

**Worked on with Turtlefanforlife1982. **


	8. Chapter 8

When they got to the farmhouse, everyone unpacked their stuff, being mindful of their injuries.

At a month along with his leg healing, Leo was just now walking in the splint and brace. He could go up and down stairs. But he wasn't thinking about himself right now. He was thinking more about what those monsters could have done to his brothers. He wanted to be with them so bad when they had gone on patrol, and because he couldn't be there, they all had sustained injuries. Mikey could have been killed with that blow to his head!

All these thoughts were making Leo so mad. He wanted to get the Foot and the Giant Assassin Gang for what they did to his family. But they needed to come up with a plan to take them on. Now he just needed to wait for at least 2 or 3 more weeks to get this wretched brace and splint off his leg.

Mikey was to be resting for a few days to make sure he came out of his concussion okay. But he would still be able to train even with a sprained wrist. He just wouldn't use it during training until it healed.

Don and Raph just had smaller injuries and did some light katas that evening with Leo doing likewise. He just felt he had to be doing some training to keep his mind focused. But Don was also watching him to make sure he didn't damage his leg.

Leo tried to hold his balance and kick with his bad leg, but when he would extend it, he would come close to falling. Receiving a scolding from Donnie for trying too hard, Leo would just warm up his arms and not try anything too daring.

After nearly an hour of doing light katas, Leo sat down to meditate. It was at least one of the things he could do while he healed. He couldn't believe that he was only allowed to do small katas; he wanted to train like he always did. Feeling upset about his situation, he sat down in a half lotus position with his splinted leg out straight, he began to meditate quietly but still brooding over the small workout he had done.

After two hours had gone by, Leo felt he was no longer alone. He peeked an eye open and saw Raph standing there. Leo let out a sigh and looked up at his younger brother. "Is there something you need, Raph?"

Raph stood there watching his older brother for a few moments. He had actually been in the room a lot longer, but chose not to bother his brother. "Jus checkin on ya. Sa what's your plan for getting those punks that did this to ya?"

Leo started to stand up, but his muscles had gotten stiff from sitting too long. With the help of his younger brother he got to his feet. "Well, we need to find them first, find out who hired them to take us out. Clearly they thought I was dead when they went after you three. I am thankful that you three were not hurt any worse than you all were."

Raph nodded and they were silent for a moment before Raph asked. "Sa how's the leg? Feelin any betta?"

Leo sat down on a nearby chair and propped his leg up. Rubbing it a little, he said, "Sore, but other than that fine. I think I over did it when I was working out. And Donnie's working on looking into where those guys are. He thinks that they are being lead by the Foot Clan."

Raph frowned at that and said, "He so sure bout that? I think it's someone else."

Now it was Leo's turn to frown and said to him, "Are you sure about that? My idea is we question people, but do we question the Foot? Or Purple Dragons?"

Raph shifted his weight from one foot to the other and then told him, "What makes you sa sure its the PD?"

Leo looked to the side of the room for a second before answering. "Just a feeling I have. I think it's someone in the Purple Dragons. It's just the question of who? Could it be Hun?"

Raph frowned harder and thought about it. "SO ya think Hun is leading the Assassins? Or do ya think he just hired them?"

Leo relaxed back in his seat and told his brother, "Maybe both. He wants to make sure the job gets done. It nearly did, and he almost killed Mikey too... but we were lucky. You and Donnie didn't get beat up too badly from what I was able to tell. Mikey got hurt worse. So I wonder what their plan is? Take us all out one at a time? Starting with me?"

Raph shrugged and sat on top of a small table nearby and told him honestly, "Could be, and it ain't gonna happen any time soon, sa they can jus knock off the attempts. But really Leo, we have got to think of a plan."

Leo looked a little shocked. "Oh, you don't wanna just storm them? Like usual?"

Raph pointed a finger at his brother and told him firmly, "I didn't come in here lookin for a fight bro, so don't start with me. I want to do this your way this time. What if we... what if, we find their hideout first and find out for sure if it is the Purple Dragons, then if it is, then we attack."

Leo frowned and told him. "That sounds like the Raph I know. I think it would be best to find out if it is the PD then come up with another plan of action to attack. They didn't kill me Raph; came close, yes, but they didn't kill me. Tell you what, the four of us will come up with a good solid plan over the next few weeks while my leg heals and then act when we get back. That sound workable?"

Raph gave him a light smile and told him. "Sounds good ta me."

**Written with Turtlefanforlife1982. **

**Sorry its been so long, but problems with writer's block again. **


	9. Chapter 9

Over the next few weeks as Leo's leg continued to heal, he tried to think of a strategy to take the Giant Assassin Gang down and wanted to find out who had hired them.

Don was looking up the Giant Assassin Gang. It had been hard to find them at first. He had also started working on a kind of lethal gas that would get rid of them at their headquarters. He would have to install it somehow.

Raph still thought it was the Purple Dragons that were responsible for hiring the giant men. Now that his injuries were healed, he and Casey sometimes went back to the city to start questioning some of the street punks to see if they knew anything about these lethal assassins.

There were some punks that talked when they were threatened and said that they were working for Hun. They were also taking care of other enemies of his as well.

Raph felt satisfied that his suspicions were justified. He and Casey went back to the farmhouse with their news.

When the story was told, then Don spoke up, "I found them too. Yeah, I can understand how they could be working for Hun, but their headquarters are not directly here in New York. They are upstate. They only come here when there are jobs to do."

"Well, we're gonna go upstate then and destroy them at their headquarters!" Raph said.

Leo looked over at his younger brother and told him firmly, "Raph, we cannot just jump into a fight. We need to come up with a plan, otherwise things could go wrong. You realize we all could have been killed because of these assassins? Think of what they could do to us all if we just rush in there?"

Raphael was frustrated that Leo kept telling him he could not do what he normally did in a fight, but this time he knew his leader had a good point. He knew they could have all been killed. He knew they needed a plan.

Giving out a frustrated sigh, he said, "We know their place of operations. Donnie how many assassins are we looking at?"

Donnie looked up at his brother and told him honestly, "Well, a lot more of them then there are of us. I will work on the toxic gases and other stuff so we can get in and out undetected."

Donnie stood up and said to his family, "I am going out to the barn to research on the lethal gas I could come up with."

Leo nodded and told his younger brother. "Ok. If you need any help let us know, Ok?"

Donnie nodded and walked outside. He knew it had to be installed, but how was he going to do it? He knew it wasn't going to be simple. He walked along the tree line thinking hard. After nearly half an hour of thinking, he sensed someone behind him. Drawing his bo, he spun around only to find Mikey there.

Donnie let out a sigh and said. "Mikey, you know better then that!"

Mikey smiled wide at him and told his older brother, "Don I was thinking. Remember when the furnace was leaking gas when we first came here when it was winter?"

Donnie thought about it and said, "Yea, it nearly exploded when Casey lit a match, why?"

Mikey shifted on his feet and said, "Well, what if we used natural gas?"

Donnie knew it was very rare that Mikey would come up with an effective idea, much less a good one, but he had a point. If he could just pump enough gas into the place, but it would take a while before the gas would make anyone sick... too slow... but Mikey had a point. He could see Mikey smiling at him. This is what his little brother had planned to help him think faster.

Smiling, Donnie told him, "Do you want to help me come up with something that will work out effectively?"

Mikey nodded and said, "Sure, if gas is too slow, why not pump enough into the building and then throw a match in?"

Donnie told him matter of factually. "Because whoever throws the match will blow their hand off."

The two brothers began walking back towards the farmhouse, talking about the possible ways to pump gas into the building. Once they got back, they saw Raph out front sparring lightly with Leo. Raph knew his older brother was not up to par so he could not be too hard on him. They stopped when their younger brothers walked up.

Donnie announced to them, "Mikey came up with a good idea, but we would have to think of a way to not get ourselves blown up while we initiate the plan."

Leo took his crutch from Raph when he handed it to him and asked, "What do you mean?"

Donnie told his brothers, "Well, Mikey brought up the idea to gas them with natural gas. Now it would take far too long for anyone to really get sick unless we had enough to get them. But, if we were to light a match it would blow the place up. The only problem with that is whoever lights it will blow their hand or self up. We do not want that, so we need to come up with another idea that is somewhat safer."

Raph told his immediate younger brother. "They made Leo suffer, he was dying slowly, so why not? Besides, by the time they discover the gas leak, it will be too late anyway."

Nodding in agreement, Donatello told him, "Very true, but I want them to really suffer, and bad."

Mikey piped up. "I saw in a movie one time where someone poured gasoline and lit a match. It was epic how it engulfed the place."

Raph rolled his eyes and told him. "Mike, this is not the time fer one oh your..."

"No, Raph, he has a point." Leo interrupted his brother and told him. "It would be safer, and more effective. Donnie wants them to suffer, so what we can do, is get some 50 gallon gas cans, have Casey and April fill them up, walk around their compound and dump the gas around it. The only thing is we have to make sure that none of it goes into the sewers, or to nearby buildings."

Raph bit his lower lip and suggested, "How bout we stake the place out, ta make sure that it's safe to do that first before we act. If nothing else, we could pour the gas onto the building itself from above. Donnie can you make us something to get us airborne? Sa we can fly?"

Donnie put his hand on his chin and said, "Well, that may prove too difficult for me to do if we plan on doing this right after Leo heals. It would take me at least a month or more and Leo only has a couple more weeks till his splint can come off. So it would have to be something fast."

Leo looked around at his three brothers and then said, "What if, what if we get on the roof, pour it over the edge? Like Raph said, stake the place to make sure its safe, but if we were to be on the roof, we could set the place on fire. But we would still have to have an escape route to get off the building."

"How about a zip line? Would that work? Have a rope attached to another building and zip across?" Mikey looked at his brothers hopefully. It was rare that they listened to his ideas, and he was glad he got their attention with the gas idea.

Donatello smiled proudly at his baby brother, it was rare that he came up with great ideas, but he was now on a role and there was no stopping him. For once, all of his TV watching was paying off. This was better then the lethal gas.

Then it hit him, Mikey's original idea... "We could... pump natural gas into the building, pour liquid gas over the building and then set the place on fire. The second a window blows out, the entire place will go up. And no one will get out successfully alive that is for sure. And yes, Mikey your idea is valid. We can make a zip line to get to safety."

It was settled. They would find a way to pump natural gas into the building while pouring gas over the building. They all decided two of them would pump the gas while two poured, while two drove away by vehicle two would use the zip line and get away. All they needed now was for Leo to heal so they could carry out their plan.

**Written with Turtlefanforlife1982. **


	10. Chapter 10

Donatello and Michelangelo worked on ideas on how to get natural gas pumping into the building. Raphael came out to the barn where the other two were talking and joined in on the conversation.

After about half the day had gone by, Raph finally asked them, "Why don't we get a trailer hitch, and a trailer and get one of those large white gas things that we have seen in yards and take that with us?"

Donnie looked up at his older brother and told him honestly, "Raph, for starters it would be obvious of what we are doing; two, no you can not do that. Then we would have natural gas in the air around us and then we would all get sick."

Mikey tapped his pencil on the makeshift desk and looked between his brothers lost in thought. "What, about um, pipe lines?"

Looking Donnie in the eyes, he continued. "Would that work somehow?"

Mikey had been unusually serious for a couple days now. It was weird for the older three Hamato brothers to see their baby brother so serious.

Donnie looked into his little brother's blue eyes and could see that he was adamant about this idea, though he had a good point.

Leo had felt left out so he half limped into the barn and saw how quiet his brothers were being. "Is something wrong, guys?"

The three jumped, not realizing their eldest brother had entered the barn. Raph cleared his throat and said, "No, we are just thinking. Do you have any ideas, Fearless?"

Leo took the seat that Raph offered and asked them, "Well, what do you all have so far?"

Donnie told his oldest brother. "Mikey suggested tapping into pipes to get to the natural gas. Trying to get it could turn out to be harder then expected."

Mikey piped up again. "Dudes, are there any other types of explosive gases out there? If natural gas is too hard to come by, are there any others?"

Donnie could see the shock on Raph and Leo's faces. Leo spoke before Donnie had the chance to. "Did you knock something in place or something? Because you're really coming through thinking of ideas and not goofing off."

Mikey frowned and told his oldest brother in a hurt tone, "I do know when to be serious Leo. I am not as stupid as you may think I am. At least one of you guys appreciate my ideas so far."

Leo rolled his eyes and said, "Mikey, that's not what I meant. I am just saying that..."

"That I am a goof off? Is that it, Leo? A stupid goof off? Is that how you really think of me? Do you know how hard I am trying to control myself? Yes, there are times that I do not even try. It's killing me to sit still right now, but Donnie's been teaching me to control my thoughts and it is working. Right now I am trying so hard and you do not even give a damn!"

With that said Mikey got up, throwing the pencil he had in his hand aside and stormed out of the barn not bothering to look back. Raph looked at his oldest brother and with a nod from Donnie, whacked the leader over the head, hard enough he nearly made him fall off his perch.

"Leo, you're the idiot here. Mikey was actually doing some good, thinkin of all these good ideas. Ya had ta go and open yer big mouth. No, he is not the smartest one of us, but he does have feelings, an ya just hurt 'em. He didn't do nothin wrong, now yer gonna go get his ass and haul it back in here, an I don't care if ya have ta drag 'em back in here. We need his ideas."

Leo rubbed the back of his head and stood up, taking a hold of his crutch, he walked out of the barn. He knew he asked for that, and the no nonsense tone in Raph's voice left no room for argument. Leo hobbled out of the barn in search of his baby brother.

Raph turned to Donnie and said, "That idiot. Anyway, back ta Mikey's question, are there any other types of gas?"

Donnie looked to the barn entrance and shook his head, then looked back at Raph. "Yeah, there's several different kinds. We could actually go with Mikey's original idea."

Raph looked off to the side and noticed the long since forgotten, old, dirty propane cylinder. "What about propane?"

Donnie followed his brother's gaze over to the propane tank and smiled wickedly. "That would be much easier to transport then trying to tap into pipes."

They could hear footsteps outside the barn, Raph looked out the small window and saw April coming their way. Once in the barn, Donnie asked her, "April, I have a request?"

April frowned and asked him, "What's that?"

Donnie smiled at her and then asked, "Is there any way to get a large amount of propane gas?"

April pointed out the barn door and said, "That's what's in the big white tank in the yard. It's still full. Take it all if you need it."

Donnie and Raph looked at each other knowingly. Now they just had to find a way to transport that much.

Leo caught up with his baby brother out by the pond. "Mikey, stop. Come on, I didn't mean to say it like that."

Mikey spun around, tears glistened in his blue eyes as he said, "Oh? And how DID you mean it, Leo?"

Leo sighed in frustration and said, "Mikey, look. You're smart, we just don't get the chance to see you use what is between your ears too often. I just... said the wrong thing... it came out wrong... Everyone has an important role on this team, and I guess everyone has labeled you as the one to be the goofball. I am sorry if I hurt your feelings."

Mikey could never stay mad at his brothers for long. "Thanks, Leo. Come on lets get back, so I can use my awesome skills to come up with more plans!"

Leo rolled his eyes as his little brother jogged ahead of him, following him as fast as his leg would allow.

The two brothers made it back to the barn. Once inside, Leo could see Raph pointing to the propane tank by the far wall.

"So you're saying that propane gas is the same as natural gas?"

Donnie looked over as Leo entered and answered Raph. "Yes, now what I was thinking, was we need to find a way to transport a large amount of it into the building. This stuff is way more flammable than your normal run of the mill natural gas. So our best option is to find a decent size carrier for the gas to be in. April and Casey will go to separate ends of town, or two different towns and get 50 gallons of gas each. The four of us can handle the other gas, and then once we get to the building, we split up into two teams. You and Leo will take to the rooftops while Mikey and me get the natural gas pumped into the building. April and Casey will be a block away as the getaway drivers. Once the six of us are together, we will sit back and watch them suffer."

Mikey smiled wide and said to his immediate older brother, "Like ants under a microscope!"

Donnie shook his head and corrected him, "More like under a magnifying glass, Mikey, but you get the idea. So, Leo how does the plan sound?"

Leo smiled at his younger brother and said, "Sounds good to me."

...

Two weeks seemed to fly by quickly. In no time, Leo got the splint taken off his leg, but before they could go stake out the building, Donnie wanted to make sure Leo was good to run as he would have to be quick to get off the building before the explosion.

Leo stood before his family and did a series of sprints across the yard of the farm house. Donnie even had his other two brothers act as obstacles to jump over or fight. Once his eldest brother passed the test, Donnie said proudly, "Leo, you have healed up nicely. Now its time to head upstate to go stake them out."

While April and Casey went separately to get the gas, Splinter stayed in the truck waiting on his sons while they staked out the building. The plan was that Splinter would stay in the shadows just in case he was needed.

Mikey and Donnie prowled around the two story structure while Raph and Leo took to the rooftops to scout out escape routes.

Raph looked over the edge of the building with Leo standing beside him. He saw men coming in and out the side door. Anger boiled inside him when Leo told him, "That's one of the guys that stabbed me with the arrow!"

Leo saw his younger brother's fists clench in anger, putting a hand on Raph's shoulder, he said, "Calm down, Raph."

Raph spun around and said sharply, "Calm down? CALM DOWN! Those guys tried to kill you! Did you forget about that?!"

Leo covered his brother's mouth and said sharply, "Shh! Do not blow our cover!"

Raph scowled at his older brother but kept quiet. They watched as the men all went into the building. The Giant Assassins had no idea they were being watched by the very turtles they had been sent out to kill. Now the tables had turned; they were the ones being hunted.

Mikey and Donnie walked on the darkened sidewalk and scouted around the building. Mikey was looking above him at the air conditioning unit when Donnie tapped him on the shoulder. "Mikey, I think this building used to be some kind of home at some point, whether it be apartments or whatever. But look down here, its a vent shaft."

Mikey smiled at his brother and told him, "We can pump the gas in there, can't we?"

Donnie nodded and told him, "Yes, now come on. We need to meet back up with the others."

Donnie and Mikey jogged to their meeting place after scouting. Leo saw his brothers and asked, "Well?"

Donnie caught his breath after jogging and said, "It's doable. We found a place in the wall near a darkened ally we can get in and get out with out being noticed."

Leonardo nodded and said to his younger brothers, "Splinter just left with April and Casey to get the gas filled up in the tubs. They left us some propane tanks behind with a hose to hook up."

Raph listened to his brothers talk then asked, "Can we go ahead and pump some gas into the building? That way, it is nice and thick before we torch the place."

Mikey was only half listening. His attention span was wearing out. He looked over by the side of the ally wall they were in and noticed a beer bottle. A sly smile crept across his face. "Donnie? Do you still have an oily rag in the truck?"

Donnie looked over at his little brother and asked, "Why?"

Mikey walked over and picked up the beer bottle and found it to be half full. He smelled it and he found that it still had beer in it. "Cause I have an idea..."

Around half an hour later found Donnie and Mikey pumping the propane into the building. Raph had found a nail gun outside a man's apartment on a work bench. After filling it, he went around and nailed the front door and back door shut so no one could escape.

Leo found a cellar door and used a heavy chain he found in the truck and a heavy duty lock and bolted the door shut. All this while his two youngest brothers were pumping propane into the building.

The plan was that Leo and Raph would get onto the roof after the other two were done, just in case someone lit a match from the inside. Once the perimeter was secure and the propane was inside, Donnie and Mikey stood back and watched from a distance as their two eldest brothers pored gasoline over the roof of the building. They were glad that they found there was no sewer entrance near them so that they didn't get gas down below.

Mikey's plan with the beer bottle and oily rag came from way too much movie watching... once the gas was pored, Mikey met up with Leo and together, Leo watched his little brother throw the bottle at the window as hard as he could.

It twirled as the ball of fire from the oily rag and bottle sailed into the window. Like slow motion, the fire erupted once it hit a curtain hanging nearby. Then, by some stroke of miracle, it lit the gasoline that was running down the window ledge on fire.

Mikey and Leo had little time to run as the place went up in flames. Men were yelling and alarms were sounding, and then, just as Leo and Mikey were about half a block away, an explosion rocked the ground they stood on as the building exploded loudly.

Mikey smiled wide and then looked over at Leo, "Was that justice enough?"

Leo smiled at his baby brother and said, "Yes, you did good little brother. Now the next faze is to get Hun. He was not in the building at the time so when we get back to New York, we will go after him next."

**Worked on with Turtlefanforlife1982. **


	11. Chapter 11

Once Leo and Mikey met back up with their brothers, they all shared the victory over the defeat of the Assassins. By now Leo was well enough to go home, so April got them all pizza to celebrate on the ride home. After awhile, everyone was full and sleepy.

Leo stayed up and looked out the darkened windshield of the truck. He knew they had to go after Hun now. He looked at the black window and wondered just how they were going to take Hun down. The man was a mass of muscles, and was larger then any of them, and stronger as well. Even with all of their skills, there were times they were no match for him. He had defeated them over and over again.

He looked over at his three sleeping brothers and noticed that two were actually fast asleep... Raph was not totally asleep, he was staring hard at the wall with his eyes squinted. Apparently, the red masked turtle was deep in thought.

"Stare at that any harder and you may put holes in the side of the truck."

Raph looked over at Leo and said, "So what's tha plan, Fearless? How we gonna take Hun down?"

Raph had ignored Leo's comment and went straight to what was on his mind. Leo looked over at their brothers and sighed, "Well, I really don't know yet... we can't do the same thing twice... then people would get suspicious."

Raph looked over at their youngest brothers then said to Leo softly, "What if we... you and I attack this time? They risked a lot with that gas on the streets... and Mikey throwing that bottle at the window."

Leo looked over as well and told him. "Don't baby them, Raph. Once we get home we will think of a plan. We just have to get there and something will come to us."

Raph nodded and turned back to staring at the side of the truck.

Driving for another hour and a half had Casey pulling the truck into their garage in the warehouse. Splinter had been silent the entire ride. He didn't pay much attention to his two eldest sons talking, he had worries on his mind. He knew how strong and powerful Hun was. The many times his sons came home with multiple injuries because of this man. He worried that his sons could get seriously hurt going into a battle with him.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard his name called, looking over, Leonardo was staring at him. "Sensei, are you alright?"

Splinter shook his worries from his mind and said to his son reassuringly, "Hai, my son, I am fine."

Leonardo nodded and told his father, "Ok, well, we are home."

He felt something was off, and made a mental note to ask his father later about it. Once they were all settled in Leo went to find his father, finding him in the dojo, he knelt in front of him and said respectfully, "Sensei, I sense something is wrong. Do you know something we don't?"

Splinter opened his eyes and looked at his son. He could see the worry on his face and said, "I am just worried, my son; worried that you four may be in over your heads with Hun. I can not bear to have any of you get hurt. He has defeated you four in the past, I do not see how now is going to be any different."

Leo knew his father was right, they had been defeated in the past by Hun. "We will think of something."

Getting up, Leo walked out of the dojo and found his younger red clad brother punching his bag in his room with the door wide open. Leo stood in the doorway watching him silently, though he noticed Raph's shoulders tense up when he leaned against the door frame.

"Ya know, if yer gonna gripe at me for somethin Leo then either A, get it over with, or B, go away." Giving the punching bag another hard punch, he turned to his older brother, who remained standing there. He saw a look on his brother's face, one he prayed he would never see. "What happened with Splinter? Is he alright?"

Leo took a step forward and stopped just short of his brother and said to him, "He's worried about us. He thinks we will be defeated."

Raph sighed and grabbed his desk chair nearby and shoved it towards his brother while he sat on the foot of his bed. Leo accepted the seat and told him, "You know something? I am worried about the same thing. I mean, think about it. Every time we attack, we get beat by this guy."

Raph looked over at his older brother and said to him, "Well then Fearless, sounds like we need ta do something to stop 'em. What if Don creates an explosive of some kind? And we trap 'em inside the building when it goes off?"

Leo thought about that idea, he knew that just might work, that is if he could get Donnie to go along with it. Standing up he told Raph, "Lets go pitch the idea to Don and see what he thinks."

Raph got up and followed his brother out of the room and to Donatello's lab. The two eldest brothers found the younger in the middle of an experiment. After they watched him pour contents from one vile to a beaker with total concentration, Raph said to him, "Don, we have an idea that we wanna run by ya."

Donnie looked up from his work to see his brothers. "What's the idea?"

Leo grinned wide and asked him, "Can you make a bomb?"

It was Donnie's turn to smile wide this time and said, "Do turtles have shells? What took you so long to figure that out? That is the best way to get rid of Hun. I was thinking about that all the way back from upstate. I will stop what I am doing here and get right on it. But first, do you want a liquid bomb? Or one that has to be detonated?"

Leo thought about it. He knew the risks of even making a bomb. "Whichever one that does not require us all to be in direct harm's way."

Donnie got a serious look on his face as he thought about the possibilities. The thought of a remote controlled detonator crossed his mind and he went to work immediately. Raph frowned and asked him, "Don't you wanna finish your chemical experiment first?"

Donnie shook his head and told him quickly, "Nope, it needs time to settle. Can you two do me a favor?"

Leo nodded and told his younger brother. "Sure."

Donnie looked over at his brother from the pile of scrap metal he was next to. "I need a remote, like from a child's toy or something of that nature. It needs to be small enough to fit into the palm of our hands."

Leo nodded and turned to Raph, "Absolutely. Come on Raph, lets go."

As the two raced out of the lair, Leo yelled back, "Hey Mikey, we will be back in a little bit! DO NOT BUG DON!"

Mikey was half lying on the couch and yelled back, "Don't worry, I am watching a movie marathon! So I will be preoccupied!"

The two eldest brothers raced to the nearest junkyard and spent a better part of an hour looking for a small remote for their brother. Once they found one, they raced back home in hopes that Donnie could make one rather quickly.

**Worked on with Turtlefanforlife1982. **

**Sorry it took so long for this chappie. Writer's block for us. **


	12. Chapter 12

Donatello worked for the better part of three days, working on making a bomb that would wipe out Hun and the rest of the PD's. In the 3 days, Leo and his brothers thought of a plan to take out Hun, where to place the bomb. What Donnie was able to create was multiple bombs that could be detonated by remote from outside the building.

Leo and Raph made many trips to the junkyard looking for parts for their brother as he worked. Mikey helped Donnie once in a while, and only if he promised to be careful as this was very dangerous.

It took a total of four days, as Donnie had to make a run himself to find a part for the bomb. When he was done, he gathered his family and their friends into the lab to explain how this was going to work.

Once everyone was settled, Donnie began talking. "Ok, the bomb I created has a remote. Now I created five bombs. Once the remote has been activated, whoever sets the bombs up has precisely ten minutes to get out before the bomb goes off."

"But why ten minutes? Why not immediately?" Leo asked from where he was sitting near Raph.

Donnie looked his way and told him, "Personally I do not want to end my life or any one of ours. Now if things look sketchy, then I will push the button a second time and this will detonate the bomb immediately."

Mikey raised his hand like a school boy and said, "So what if we get caught in there, and you set the bomb off?"

Donnie gave him a 'Really, Mikey?' look and told him, "I would hope someone would for warn me before hand."

With a mischievous smile on his face, he told his older brother, "But Don... I am just saying what if we can't tell you in time?"

Raph smacked his brother upside the head and told Donnie, "He's stayin outside wit ya! Ain't no way Mister 'what if' boy here is goin in wit me and Leo an mess wit our heads while we plant the bomb."

Donnie and Leo both agreed with that, so it was decided that later that night the four brothers would head to the PD hideout and wait for the right moment.

...

Leo stayed in constant communication with Donnie while he and Raph moved with the shadows into the building. They could see their target talking to the PD gang. Raph wanted to go bust some heads, but with a shake of the head from Leo along with a warning look, Raph stood down.

Donnie had given them five bombs, Leo and Raph split up and set the bombs in the four corners of the room before Leo set the final one near Hun without his knowledge. Once the task was complete without any problems, they both got out of there.

Meeting their two youngest brothers outside, Donnie asked them. "Did you guys seal off the doors?"

Raph cracked his knuckles and told him, "Yep, did that before we went in. We entered through the roof. Leo took care of any escape routes they could possibly find to get out of there."

Donnie nodded and told his brothers, "Good, now lets stand back. This is going to be one heck of a blast."

The four brothers stood a distance away from the building as Donnie hit the button twice, causing a mass of fire along with a loud explosion to rip through the dead of the night. The brothers fell down when the wind picked up from the aftershock of the explosion. Scrambling to their feet, the brothers ran for the nearest ally as they heard sirens in the distance. Leo let out a breath and said, "No one could have survived that."

Raph had his hands on his knees as he said, "No joke, that was awesome! I just hope we get no further problems outta anyone."

Mikey looked between his three older brothers and asked, "Sooo... we won the battle?"

Leo looked at the burning building. He watched as fire fighters, police officers and ambulances pulled up and tried to keep people away. He watched the flames lick the night air as he said to Mikey, "No, we won the war."

The four brothers took the nearest manhole back to the sewers. There was no telling if their fight against the evil forces would ever be 'over', but one thing was for sure, Hun and the Assassins were gone for good.

**Worked on with Turtlefanforlife1982. She has been a great help helping me write this story when my ideas ran out on me. **

**Please tell me how ya liked this story. It is now complete. It couldn't have been a better ending than this. **


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